COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 156
(By Senators Whitlow and Bailey)
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[Originating in the Committee on Agriculture;
reported February 28, 1996.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-five, article three,
chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting
persons from digging cultivated ginseng on lands of another
without the owner's consent; land must be posted; and
penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-five, article three, chapter sixty-one of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-35. Digging cultivated ginseng or other medical roots;
penalty.
It shall be unlawful for any person to dig cultivated ginseng
or other medical roots, or prospect for the same, on the lands of
another in the counties of Pocahontas, Greenbrier and Webster, without the consent of the owner or owners thereof first obtained.
The provisions of this section shall extend to all of the counties
of the state: Provided, That the county court of any county may,
upon the petition of one hundred voters of the county, direct to
have the same enforced in such county or any district or districts
thereof. The property must be properly posted with "No
Trespassing" signs, "Private Property" signs, or other signs that
explain to a person to stay off the property. The signs must be of
reasonable size to be read by an average person and must be posted
at reasonable intervals of at least two hundred feet around the
property.
Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
less than fifty dollars, and may, in the discretion of the court,
be confined in the county or regional jail not exceeding two months
thirty days.